The following relates generally to controlling devices and, more particularly, to a configurable controlling device having an associated editor program for use in configuring, among other things, the user interface and functionality of the controlling device.
Editor programs for configuring a controlling device, such as a hand held remote control, are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,870 illustrates and describes a controlling device which is programmable from a PC using an advanced, object-oriented user interface. More particularly, multiple user selectable screen objects may be created on the PC and transferred to the controlling device. The screen objects include screen layout and descriptions of soft keys to be displayed on a graphic display of the controlling device, as well as commands associated with the screen object, the soft keys and/or programmable keys on the remote control unit. The user may then select any of the screen objects once they have been transferred to the controlling device to control the operation of various appliances.
Similarly, PCT published application no. WO 00/39772 discloses a universal, programmable remote control device which has programming that enables an end-user to customize the remote control device through editing or programming of the control functionalities of the remote control device. The programming is achieved via a PC. In this manner, the control configuration created via an editor on the PC can be downloaded into the device. It is additionally disclosed that the PC has emulator software to test the configuration before downloading. It is to be understood that WO 00/39772 generally discloses the editor for the Philips' “Pronto” brand remote control.
Increasingly, such programmable controlling devices are utilized in environments which include networked and/or interactive appliances. While these known controlling devices and associated editor programs do continue to work for their intended purpose in such environments, programming of these controlling devices has become increasingly tedious and in many instances cannot be accomplished without a detailed knowledge of the exact configuration of the target appliance network or, in some cases, without the physical presence of a fully operational appliance network during the programming process.